Its 31st! The last day of the year and this year it does not make any difference to me. It is just like any other day. Had always been with friends or family to welcome the new year but last year I was alone in my flat and video chatting with F. This is going to be my first new year's eve with F and it seems like no big deal.

Moving to today's topic, here are the rest of the pictures that describe Yanbu.

Windows

In the quest of the house where Lawrence of Arabia lived, we reached this location. The lanes are narrower and the houses here are very rustic with these kind of windows which seemed to be made of wood. We were obviously a unusual visitor by the way we were stared at. So we could not stay longer or click pictures of more of these kind of houses.

Red Sea Low Cliff Coast

Red Sea Low Cliff Coast

Camera shy F walking away from me looking out for some crabs..

Dead corals or fossils?

Crystal Clear

Cloud covered Sun

Fire Ball

Fisherman's Basket

Old City Arch

Like I promised, here are some of the beautiful sculptures of public art, and bay area in the old town of Yanbu.

So this is how it all started…

Post a heavy lunch at Shangri-La on a Saturday, we were on our way back home and the most exciting thing happened – it began to rain. I simply  love rain and it has always been a sign of 'something nice will happen to you fash'. And it was not too late for that something nice to happen.

“So, do you want to go on a drive in the rain?” – that was from F… Am I am hearing it right????? I was like, “Do you even have to ask?” Off we went past our building and on to the main road again.
“So where do you want to go?” “where I haven't been before in Yanbu”. He got to a gas station, filled full even when there was no indication of low fuel – it is so unlike him but which hinted that it is going to be a really LONG drive.

He continued to drive stating that there isn't any place that I haven't seen in Yanbu. I maintained silence as I don't know any specific names of the place to tell him. But the drive itself was so good with the rain splashing on the windshield.. and like India, there is no madness on the road on a rainy day. I love the aroma of sand kissed by rain water…that reminds me of Indian monsoon …



I gave no attention to watch outside as we were listening to our fav songs and singing along… and then I noticed that the places were new to me. Yet another tactic of F…make me keep my expectations low.  I thought this would be the best opportunity to click pictures and help me stay awake as the heavy lunch was making me so drowsy. It was not raining in this part as we could see the roads were dry.


This is  a very old sculpture that still holding together. It is a Dullah (jug)  and fanajeens (cups) used to serve arabic coffee. Looking at it, seems like it is not maintained or may be it is the oldest one in the town.

All of a sudden I got reminded of “Lawrence of Arabia”. F had once mentioned about it. I had not done much research on this but I was inclined to do it after today's experience. And so we planned to go in search of the house  where T.E Lawrence lived. There was no information of the exact location of this old fort and as KSA is not know for tourism and so not expected to have it restored or might have been demolished too. Internet too did not have a specific location details. But nevertheless, we thought we will continue driving in and around and if we get lucky we will see the fort/building too. We found many other interesting stuffs while looking for this and we did see so many similar looking half destroyed structures. 

Moving on to the Red sea side, I got to see these beautiful larger than real boats sculpted and three in a row. Most of the sculptures in this side of Old Yanbu are inclined towards “sea” “port” and the likes.



This one is a yacht that is placed in roundabout. There is a fountain that is not functional I guess. Or I may have to come here during the night to see if it works.


This one I am not sure what it depicts but it is bright white and blue.


This is the most colorful sculpture I have seen in Yanbu.



The sea is so blue here and this is the bay point where they get on a boat to the spot for scuba diving. The entire location was buzzing with people and lots of boats ready to leave. I was in the car watching these and amazed how diverse Yanbu is. There are a couple of resorts that have events/activities arranged for group of people.


I should say that I saw so many colours in this side of the town - even though this is the old side.The bright blue sea, the bright sculptures, etc.



All along the drive, the sea had shades of blue, aqua green, teal… it was splendid. I kept asking him, why he never took me here all these days!!! I knew the answer – we never drove in the day time and in the night I never thought this was the sea side – coz this is the most calm sea I have ever seen.

When we went looking for the old fort, we saw similar looking buildings with the old fashioned windows made of wood. I am glad that these are retained in its original form and keeps the essence of Yanbu alive. These pocket villages add a balance amid the developing Industrial city.

I will post the rest of the story sooner. Insha Allah.

If anything I have mentioned  in this post is incorrect or you have more information please do share your comments.

Actually wanted to post about how I ended up with  this makeover of my blog, but that needs extensive collation of data and stuff.. and I am in no mood to do that, because I have something more cheesy to share. 

If you have read my Chasing the Dawn post, you will know how much that day meant to me. However, I had deliberately not shared a few things that would have been a spoiler. All those pictures that I posted were taken from inside the car. It is not banned for women to get off the car - Not at all. But it is F's overprotective instincts or mere laziness to get off the seat. At that moment, I continued to be seated in the car and watched the sunrise! Only later on when I wrote that post, I felt it would have been a good thing if we stepped out of the car and clicked better pictures and some selfies or just stand there and feel the warm rays. 

I did not feel bad about it, because there is always another time! And next time it will be my word! :-) But I felt that the pictures weren't good enough. My phone buzzed and what he sent me was a sunrise picture. It was unexpected, a thoughtful gesture, cute, loving, and of course I am the sunshine! (whatever happened to modesty!)

This weekend we explored Yanbu and I got to see some amazing places and also got to know a little bit more about F. I cant wait to share the pictures – only way show the beauty of Yanbu!

Mom's Plantain Cake

D and S, the two characters F brought into our lives a month ago. Ever since there hasn't been a single day that ended without having to meet them for dinner. Sometimes, he brings them during the weekend too and they stay all day! I would be lying if I said I hated them from first. I love to have guests and I enjoyed their company so much that I began to even get attracted to one of them. I can share anything with F and I did so with this one too. I told him I have a liking for D :-) He is so charming!

After a certain point, it was getting annoying. How can you tell them to leave or do not visit so often? Most of the time, I had to shoo them off forcefully but subtly...they don't seem to get the message. I wonder if it is F who is holding them from going. It is very unusual of F to do that.

Initially I was the best host - welcoming, appreciating, admiring, listening, serving snacks, watching, etc. but lately I just pray that they leave forever. You know the proverb - Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. I hope they are aware of it. 

Ah! there they are coming home again! I just so wish this gets over! - more on this later. Got to go now. 

Any tips?

Now you can check this Guests | Revealed post to know more about D and S.

Hijab

Hijab

Abaya

Abaya

My first abaya was gifted to me by my in-laws. Hardly got an opportunity to wear it. It is the worst thing to wear in summer in Kerala. Why does Abaya have to be in the black? Wonder who said that it should be in black! Black is the worst colour to wear in summer! But I had to get used to this as it was planned that I would be coming to KSA to live with F. The only fact that I like about abaya is that you can wear anything comfortable underneath. KSA made me feel that I did not have to bring all those lovely shirts and Salwar kameez. All you need are pyjamas and cotton t-shirts :-) unless you have women only get together.

Niqab

HijabNiqab

Niqab

How did I feel? 

Something happened here for the first time since I came to Yanbu. Power failure. It was gone for more than an hour. No internet! I had completely forgotten about the data network on my SIM! So much for being always home. :-) For the first time, I could hear the neighbors, heard kids cry, heard Backstreet boys track..I could hear even a pin drop! Having to wait for the power and excited about the fact I could hear others secretly (but could not make any sense of it), I made another cup of tea so I have a partner in crime.

stuffs I use in Yanbu for my cup of tea

I love when the weekend arrives, this means I will have F home and with me all the time. As there isn't anything fun that we can do in Yanbu, our weekends are mostly spent, eating out, grocery shopping and watching illegally downloaded movies. Occasionally he offers to go on a long drive on early Friday morning.

I was so glad I was working which left me with less time with in-laws and more time to experiment in my kitchen. Post engagement I began to note down recipes from mom, mil, cousins, etc and tried them out. J loved my cooking, and so did my colleagues. Appreciations were pouring - I was on cloud 9 or 10 may be 11. Magical hands that make yummy food! Confidence - skyrocketed.

This should have been my first post considering the similarity of topic and the blog title. In my earlier post Towards Gulf, it is obvious that gulf was not uncommon in my native. However despite the fact that both our families have someone in some country in the gulf, there were/are none in Yanbu.

I heard about it for the first time from F. He got transferred to Yanbu on a project right after we got engaged. So you know how people ask oh! you got engaged, so what is he doing?, where is he working? Yanbu? Where is that? So to save myself from not being able to answer that last question exactly - because just Saudi wouldn't suffice, they would then ask, Really? where exactly in Saudi? urrrghh!

I was astonished when this above conversation didn't happen with the people at work. The team was already aware of the place because they had a team member who had quit Yanbu to give her daughter a better life. As much as negative feeling she gave me, she would end up saying not to get intimidated and that I have to make it a point to live with the husband. But she used to address the place as Yambo! So deep in me I kinda hoped that this place is different from where F is going.

Yanbu/Yambo/Yenbo all are the same city. The internet gave splendid review about this city. It has beaches! It is one of the world's best scuba diving / snorkeling spot! There are umpteen number of beautiful parks! mountains! and most of the well known brands have their outlets in the shopping malls here. There are also a few good fine dine restaurants and hotels. I did not find anything "not good" or cons of living here that was alarming! And what is in life if everything is smooth and cake walk? a little bit of everything would make life more interesting!

Apart from the restrictions on women, everything else seems to be awesome! The first thing I loved about this place was the road traffic.

Taken from inside the car...

I never have been in such free roads in India - where there is no lane driving, no gap between vehicles, no respect for pedestrians, and everyone wants to be in the first line at the traffic signal. Even crossing the road was life threatening. Well, this is not the case in other cities of KSA. We went on a drive to Jeddah and honestly, I had such a relief to be back on the road to Yanbu! Felt like coming back home. Guess I have become accustomed to a quiet life.

I stopped comparing with India and believe that the grass is greener everywhere for some reason! Once you know the reasons, you will appreciate and be grateful for that.

Fuddruckers, Yanbu, KSA

The pen is mightier than the sword

I am in Love! How do I know? - you know when it happens!I still went ahead to check online for the symptoms of being in love? - (are you kidding?) Yes, I did so that I can confirm.

From the land where I come from, every house would have at least one individual living/earning in the "Gulf". Predominately if asked, "where do you work?" the answer is "Gulf". No one cares which company or the nature of the job. This was a decade ago scenario which I am sure still prevails in most part of the gods own country.

Solution to any issues pertaining the growing up teenage would be to send him off to Gulf - which will fix his life. If you find anyone jobless guy, doing small time errands, and you ask out of concern, "what is your plan?" invariably the response would be, "I am waiting for so-and-so to send me a visa." I have grown up seeing this and never had a liking to this whole gulf thingy.

Every marriage proposal would be from some part of the gulf and no matter how much you avoid, the majority of them are in the Gulf. I detested the long-distance relationship which most of my family girls are still in. There are lucky people who get to take their family along, but I could never imagine a life where I had to be alone after marriage.

When I got to know that the man I am getting married to is also from the Gulf - and that too from KSA - I was a wee bit upset. But I was glad we both were on the same page, i.e NO LONG DISTANCE relationship. I began my research on this country but my hubby wasn't very keen in getting me to Yanbu stating that I wouldn't like this place as I would not be able to cope with the restrictions and the dress codes. Love is blind in this case, I told him I want to live with him even if it was a hell.


I was very clear in my head as to what I need and was very clear of what I am gonna lose in this process. Everything I heard about life in KSA was negative. Having lived independently, in a country with freedom everywhere, this was hard to digest. He planned that we be together for our first anniversary. I was mentally prepared, I shopped a couple of abayas (dress code for woman in KSA), quit my job and was prepared to be the "Home Maker". Here I come Yanbu! It took us a year before we could be together.

Life here is very simple. I think myself as a queen. He has to accompany me everywhere, drive me around, wait until I finish shopping, or yet shop together groceries. And any urgent requirement, he has to step out to get them. Pampered! This was how I had to think of my dependency on him and I deliberately think positive in  every negative thing that I face here. There are moments I get that "why can't I do it myself",  I close my eyes and thank Allah for we are together now.

Note: I have not used the taxi service here. I have heard there are taxi service in other major cities which woman use to move about the city to shop, etc.

A quote my friend sent me this morning.


It is highly recommended to be POSITIVE and be GRATEFUL whenever you feel this place is NOT me. 

This whole setting up the blog before you start posting has been overwhelming. The numerous templates, layouts, links, settings, etc. I have no idea what will be the outcome if I choose to uncheck the "are you a robot?" - When I had to personally verify to access certain content on the internet, I used to get annoyed for the repeated verification with those disfigured alphabets and numbers. wait a minute - it is uppercase or lowercase? or is that 1 or I? :-P Nevertheless, its meant for safety so the settings I enabled are out of the safety reasons. Now with so much of restrictions, I wonder why am I even here?

Well, I am eligible for a rookie mistake and I am not gonna give up. This activity has given me a new medium to be engaged. It is like moving into a new home, it takes time to get settled and know the exact place where you can find the tool box after a month or so. Likewise, I am new here and before I can get to smarter blogging, I will stumble upon challenges and I am looking forward to it.

Past few days have been interesting with thoughts and ideas taking the shape and still ambiguous. I am so thankful to all the helping instructions and videos that helps me create this space. I take time to read others blogs and watch their layout. I am sure everyone like me who are technically-disabled would have done that - watch the masters and learn from them.

I came to KSA six months ago and its now that I began to feel that I have to start engaging in activities that will keep me focused and learn skills. Until now, all I had to do was clean the home and cook dinner. With plenty of time, comes idleness. Both of us being sweet toothed, I got into this marathon of making sweet dishes every single day for the dessert. Internet was the go-to person. All those food porns only made me crave for more and sad thing is I had to make them too.

Gradually, I began to enjoy cooking and meanwhile we both gained a few pounds (not that we were thin earlier). So should I stop making mousse and parathas floated in ghee? Nay, we continue to do so with minimizing the frequency. That lands me with more time! Uff! those days when I wished I had a few more hours in the day to complete certain task and here I am figuring out how to spend the time!